Happiness in Thailand: The Effects of Family, Health and Job Satisfaction, and the Moderating Role of Gender

This research investigates the association between family, health, and job satisfaction, and happiness in Thailand. The data were collected by means of telephone survey questionnaires developed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The research data are from simple random sampling and stratified multi-stage sampling from master 2012-NIDA (National Institute of Development Administration) poll data proportioned to the population, age, and household income in each region of Thailand. This poll data had a total of 1,004 respondents but this research focuses on employed people and consists of a total of 799 respondents. All research hypotheses were tested by means of hierarchical regression analysis and analysis of variance was used to verify some interesting issues relating to demographic factors. The analysis results indicate that all three types of satisfaction (i.e., family, health, and job satisfaction) have positive effects on happiness (measured in present and future happiness) in Thailand. Although only family satisfaction has a positive effect on future happiness, all three types of satisfaction have positive effects on present happiness. Additionally, among all three model variables, family satisfaction plays the most important role in predicting present and future aspects of happiness. Further, our results indicate that gender is of little influence as a moderator. Our results not only validate research findings in other countries but also verify the importance of subjective appreciation of life and happiness for public policy makers.